
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 1, 1993                   TAG: 9305010100
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DETROIT                                LENGTH: Short

GM REFUSES TRUCK RECALL

General Motors Corp. on Friday rejected a government request that it recall up to 4.7 million older pickup trucks, raising tensions in a standoff that could lead to a forced recall or a court battle.

At issue in the request from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are GM's 1973-87 full-size pickups. Critics say the gas tanks are prone to explode in side crashes.

"These trucks have no safety-related defect . . . and . . . [meet] future standards that don't even yet apply to trucks," GM general counsel Harry Pearce said Thursday.

On April 9, NHTSA asked GM to recall the trucks voluntarily. GM indicated at the time it would not comply.

The federal agency can launch an investigation and order a recall if it rules there is a defect, though only trucks dating to 1985 would be affected. The agency's statute of limitations on recalls is eight model years. If the automaker again refused, the issue probably would be decided in court.

by CNB